


clementines

by shownus



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Boys Being Boys, Gay, High School, Inspired by Music, M/M, Musical Instruments, Neighborhood Boys, Opposites Attract, Skater Kim Mingyu, Teen Romance, Tutoring, Violinist Minghao, boy next door
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-28 23:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20786654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shownus/pseuds/shownus
Summary: neighborhood pant-chain wearing skater boy, kim mingyu, meet the sweet and pure indie lover clementine, xu minghao. he will be your violin tutor. have fun!





	clementines

**Author's Note:**

  * For [em0shua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/em0shua/gifts).

> ***(playlist!) " xu minghao: take the bus: https://spoti.fi/2n9UWOH "
> 
> hi JORDYN!!!!!! thanks for being such an amazing friend. you are the biggest and coolest nerd i know. i hope you like it. and u have the best hair EVER. 
> 
> and i flipped the roles. so in this fic ,, mingyu is the bad boy >:)  
ok BYE gamergirl!!! ttyl!!

minghao is sliding rosin on the many thin hairs of his bow in the practice room when he sees mingyu for the first time. he feigns a look so daunting and morose it makes his knees shake. for a moment, through the little rectangular window in the door, minghao watches. the bellowing, brassy sounds exploding from the instruments around him as his classmates warm up become muffled as hao focuses his energy on the boy on the other side of the glass. mingyu’s slender fingers wrap around the infamous dab pen barely hidden in his sleeve, and minghao watches his body expand as he breathes in, his eyes fluttering shut and how his chest remains puffed for a few seconds before releasing the tension. he is tall, and scary looking, but most of all, he looks afraid. it makes minghao curious.

the dark door opens and hao’s eyes double in size, his pupils shift instantly downwards towards his feet. when footsteps near minghao, his stomach flips.

“are you good at this?” a familiar finger points to his violin.

the cherry wood glossy finish on his instrument was littered with small stickers he collected from trips to town with jun and joshua. he loved looking at them because they reminded him of days off in the summer and when he still had classes with his friends. now he was lucky if he was able to make out a single word joshua would yell at him during orchestra practice.

“oh, i. i don’t know. i haven’t practiced much lately.”

“clarinet, right?” the one with the rather menacing chain looped through his pants asked. “it’s what squidward plays. like in spongebob.” mingyu is looking at joshua cleaning his mouthpiece.

this made minghao smile. he thought it was kind of funny— kind of comforting, to be reminded of a childhood favorite of his by someone a few minutes ago he was sure he would’ve done everything he could to avoid crossing paths with.

“my name is kim mingyu. i think we went to the same middle school. do you think you could do me a favor?” mingyu’s eyes did a funny little thing. they looked desperate. and his eyebrows did this funny little thing. they pleaded.

and minghao’s heart did a funny little thing.  
it skipped a beat.

“what can i help you with?” minghao had to push himself onto his tippy-toes just for a moment so he wouldn’t have to raise his voice too loud, cupping a hand around his mouth to amplify his words.

“can you teach me? teach me violin?” mingyu’s thumbs fumbled over each other as he monologued. “my mom wants me participate in school more. she says i can’t get a scholarship to college for skateboarding.” minghao can’t help but smile a little bit at that too. he has never taught anyone anything ever before, and the thought of watching mingyu skate circles around him made hao even more curious. “it was this or football and i’d rather die than sign my life away to play with balls on the daily. i mean—“ a rosy flush spreads across mingyu’s cheeks when minghao snorts at his jumble of words.

“i mean. no, i didn’t mean. oh man...” mingyu rubs his face with his hands. “you’ll help me right? i can get my mom to pay you.”

“why not.” minghao smiles “maybe you can teach me how to skate too.”

minghao listens to strawberry swing on the bus home and contemplates what sheet music he should use in his lessons with mingyu. then he eats a clementine on the front steps of his home and listens to music on the radio. at night, when everyone turns on their porch lights, and the fireflies come out, minghao does his homework and wonders if mingyu is doing his homework now too. he slides his phone from his desk to his lap and opens up his contacts. there it is.

_Kim mingyi_

the contact was added by mingyu in a hurry before he ducked out of the room, and the spelling error, although a mistake, felt perfect to hao.

"Hi! This is Xu Minghao from school." minghao whispers to himself out loud a few times, checking for its normality before deciding to send the message.

the whoosh sound effect made his heart beat a little harder, and the second the 3 dots made their appearance on the blank chat, minghao shut off his phone, pushing it across the desk away from himself.

**〚‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾〛**

**Ding!**

**〚____________________________________________________________________〛**

minghao scrambled for his phone right as the notification buzzed.

**〚‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾〛**

_Kim mingyi_  
hi minghao! i’ll add ur number (:

**〚____________________________________________________________________〛**

that was it? that’s it? minghao sighed as he scanned over the 6 words.

the loud crash and grunt startled minghao, prompting him to rise in a hurry from his chair. as he threw back his curtain to fall behind his shoulder, his eyes analyzed the street in front of him from his open bedroom window.

**〚‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾〛**

**Ding!**

**〚____________________________________________________________________〛**

minghao watched as the boy picked up his phone from the asphalt. brushing the cracked screen as he ran a hand through his hair. it was mingyu. minghao turned to his own phone in his hands to check the notification.

**〚‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾〛**

_Kim mingyi_  
d

**〚____________________________________________________________________〛**

minghao peered back into the humid night, watching as mingyu swiped quickly over his phone with the sleeve of his hoodie, balled up around his fist. he snapped his foot down on the skateboard, making it bounce into his hand. the boy in the window wondered if he was capable of doing something like that with a skateboard too.  
mingyu laughed a little at himself before he started letting his fingers fly across his keyboard.

**〚‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾〛**

**Ding!**

_Kim mingyi_  
**do you want to get soda with me or something?? the d was an accident lol

**〚____________________________________________________________________〛**

minghao barely made eye contact with his unfinished homework before shoving his foot into his yellow converse and knotting up the laces around his ankles, shooting a quick reply to mingyu.

☼

“so i think thursday would work for the lessons.” minghao offers once he has his hands wrapped around the bottle of sprite, condensation running down his forearm.

“works for me.” mingyu nodded as he turned his back to reach for his pocket, coasting on his board down the street as minghao claimed the sidewalk. “i cracked my phone really bad earlier, look.” he pressed the power button, stomping his right foot on the black top so minghao could get a good look while the world was completely still. the screen was shattered pretty awfully and the scrapes along mingyu’s knuckles made hao feel sad.  
the text minghao sent him was still an unopened notification.

“hey! that’s my text. what’s my contact name?” minghao gave mingyu a shove back as he laughed loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood.

“oh what, zazou? you think i’d forget you playing zazou in the maewon middle school 7th grade rendition of disney’s the lion king?” mingyu scoffs satirically and minghao’s stomach churns in embarrassment.

“my mom forced me to do that..” he tried arguing as mingyu kicked off from the concrete, progressing further on his skateboard.

“no way. you were way too good on that stage to of not wanted to be there.” it goes quiet for a moment and minghao shoves his hands into the deep pockets of his light blue overcoat. “thanks.” it feels weird receiving compliments like this, sometimes. minghao’s mom always told him to accept compliments and not deny, because then you’re either fishing for compliments or displaying low-self esteem. minghao’s mom hates both equally.

that night, the boys wave goodbye to each other and minghao walks in the front door and watches mingyu fly down the street before shutting it closed behind him.

minghao eats another clementine and recycles his soda bottle. then he finishes his homework, brushes his teeth, and stays up all night finding the perfect song to teach mingyu.

☼

before school, minghao skips breakfast and practices violin instead, he blow dries his hair instead of letting it air dry, and he decides to bring his old sheet music from when he was just starting out.

joshua texts the groupchat his daily “i hate chemistry” text, and the world seems to be at peace. minghao listens to strawberry swing on the bus again and wonders if mingyu knows the song. jun says “it’s not bad if you listen to the teacher.” and joshua replies “easier said than done, boomers get mad we aren’t born with the knowledge they spent their entire lives learning.” minghao and jun agree.  
minghao thinks joshua and jun are life-long friends for him. they all got put in the same class at the start of school because they had learned korean late, hailing from foreign countries. joshua plays the clarinet and bass, and jun had decided to pick up the ukulele when swim season died down.

on thursday, minghao meets at mingyu’s house with his violin and a folder of papers. minghao’s fingers curl the bow, manipulating it to become part of himself, and mingyu gives up ever ‘becoming good.’ mingyu’s mom pays $80 for 2 hours each lesson, and minghao thinks by the end of it all he will be able to buy plenty of more stickers for his violin and lots of ice cream for joshua and jun.

☼

“i heard you’ve become friends with a cool skater boy.” jun nudges minghao on a chilly friday afternoon, the friday after his 4th lesson with mingyu. “oh yes. do tell!” joshua kicks rocks into the gully and leans all of his weight on a rather frail looking walking stick.

“he is pretty cute. and he told me he listens to my chemical romance and steve lacy. and he’s getting the hang of violin.”

“he sounds like the real deal!” joshua’s laughing halts when minghao karate kicks the walking stick, snapping it into two.

“do you get paid a whole lot?” jun is checking under boulders light enough to lift for salamanders.

one day the forest will swim in leaves, minghao thinks. they just don't decompose fast enough. he wonders what lies beneath all the layers of crunchy foliage. maybe frogs.

“yes. i help him for 2 hours and it’s $80.”

“a keeper.” joshua remarks, brushing soil off of himself. “in all seriousness, i’m jealous. i want a boyfriend, or a girlfriend.”

minghao points to jun. “you always have jun!” he erupted into laughter, sending both boys jumping over top of him, throwing bundles of crisped leaves into his face.

“of course!”

“you had to make it weird!”

“why do you get the skater boy and i’m stuck with him?”

“hey! i’m not that bad!”

☼

at their 8th lesson, mingyu can read music and play songs at reduced speed. “why don't you show me your best piece?” mingyu prompts hao, obviously tired of the work that goes into learning something new. giving him a little smile that fills his heart with fear and warmth, mingyu asks “what’s a song you can perform really well?”

“ok. i can't perform it perfectly, but this is my favorite one. so you have to be quiet. listen.” minghao sets up his phone to the speaker in mingyu’s basement and plays pulaski at night. mingyu taps his feet impatiently. “when do you come in? when do you come in?” he giggles at minghao’s solidness, his frozen stance of extreme focus. he waits for what feels like forever; until minghao begins.

minghao lets his sound resonate with the cold walls surrounding them, he lets his fingers pluck and become extensions of the bow. mingyu wonders if he has the best teacher ever, and decides he does. he decides right then and there:

“you’re the best violinist i have ever heard. or seen.” mingyu tells minghao completely straight faced, making him laugh. “hey, i’m being serious. that was so amazing. you’re amazing.”

“are you high right now?” minghao asks rhetorically, turning to stop the song from repeating.

“no! well, a little. but not enough to impair my judgement or anything.” mingyu catches minghao’s eyes for a moment and feels a spark. a spark of a true creator, someone passionate about their work, passionate about doing what they love. “i want you to teach me pulaski at night.”

☼

“you’re going to TEACH HIM PULASKI AT NIGHT?!” joshua pushes minghao over, flopping on his bed, his lips and fingertips stained orange from cheese doodles. “that’s our song, for the talent show. come on...” jun snaps uncomfortably at minghao.

“it’s $80! imagine how long he would take to learn it. come on guys. he really liked seeing me perform it, it would be a dick move to not help him. he really wants this.”

the silent demeanor from the two boys starts making minghao worried. “he’s learning my part, not like i’m gonna shove him into our performance you big doofuses.”

“we know: just kinda, we thought it was OUR thing.” jun replies, rubbing his hands on his thighs, glancing over at joshua, who’s digging back into the cheese doodle bag, seemingly forgetting what he was fighting for. jun lands a solid smack against joshua's back, making him sit up straight, incoherently nodding and mumbling an "of course" and "i agree completely!"

☼

mingyu and minghao's lessons are different now. on their 12th lesson, mingyu tucks hair behind hao's ears. by the 13th lesson, hao holds mingyu's hand for a few more seconds than necessary when passing him rosin or a soda from the basement fridge. sometimes the two entirely abandon the stringed instruments to roll around in the grass and kick mingyu's skateboard. although minghao tries his best, mingyu gets distracted easily and offers him his dab pen or says he'd rather learn about minghao than the violin. the tutor knows he should be upset by this, but it's more cute than bothersome at this point.

"i never want this to end." mingyu confesses while minghao is in the middle of explaining the tempo of pulaski at night. minghao's tired eyes shoot wide at being interrupted, hesitantly turning his head to face the voice behind him.  
"well, i think two hours is plenty for a vio-"

"no, you geek. not enough for me. i just want to sit here and listen to you talk." 

"mingyu, you would be so bored, i think you're exaggerating."

"no, this is perfect for me."

"perfect?" minghao repeats without much expression besides a hint of curiosity. he wants to ask what mingyu had meant, but even after so many lessons, the truth was that mingyu still made minghao's heart thump and stomach churn by infinity times ten. 

minghao uses some tutoring money to buy ice cream and stickers for joshua and jun, he buys matching keychains with little storm clouds and gives the one he believes to be cuter to mingyu.

mingyu hung the keychain onto the metal looped through his black jeans before hao could even finish telling him about the adventure he went through finding them.

☼

on the 20th lesson, mrs. kim leaves the envelope with the check on the kitchen counter while at a co-worker's birthday party.  
on the 20th lesson, mingyu tells minghao to come upstairs and check out his bedroom.

gyu, with his slender fingers, lets minghao pick a song to play. mingyu makes minghao promise it won't be classical music, and minghao shoves him onto his bed. "just because i play violin doesn't mean i'm boring and only listen to classical music!! you're so lame!" mingyu laughs as he reaches from where he laid on his bed to whatever random knick knacks he could grab or point to, explaining the stories behind all of them. 

"it's nice and bright, like you." the skater says when minghao picks strawberry swing. kim mingyu, as dark as he had initially seemed, said he loved the song. "i can wear black all i want, but i guess everyone needs a little bit of light." then mingyu made fun of coldplay and hao had to tell him they all split up and mingyu felt bad.  
but minghao just laughed.

minghao feels comfort with mingyu, and when he tells him this, mingyu agrees wholeheartedly. minghao hugs mingyu really tight. tighter and longer than he's hugged anyone ever before. neither of the boys touched a violin for either of the two hours.

instead of his violin, minghao had touched:  
**1.** Kim Mingyu

minghao never held or touched or petted or squashed the cheeks of his violin quite like he had been able to do with mingyu, and for a split second, he questioned if he was cheating. 

minghao wonders to himself if he can love two at once, his violin and kim mingyu. he decides he can, but only deep, deep down so if or when mingyu says he's a great friend and nothing more, minghao knows he won't be too disappointed.

the exact moment where minghao had said something along the lines of "i should be heading home soon," was but a distant memory until mingyu beat hao in mario kart and joked that his prize should be a kiss on the cheek. minghao was out of his crush's room in a minute flat and stumbling to the front door for his shoes.

"sorry, sorry. i have homework!! i need to make dinner, um, my mom called me, i..er, my dog is sick. he has... uh.. like, a.." mingyu held the railing as he skidded down steps behind the little one fleeing his home. "i was making a joke, i wasn't trying to pressure you, i'm really sorry." minghao blew his hair out of his face as he tied his shoelaces, fingers going numb from his anxiety shooting through the roof. "let me help." he offered, bending down. 

minghao imagines mingyu knotting up all of his heart strings, tying them up and working slow. he wants to hate it, but he loves it. but he just hates it. but he loves it. but-

"done! see, you should keep me around, looks like i'm useful sometimes." mingyu smiled as he stood up to face minghao, whose face was cherry red. 

"sorry. i get so nervous around you."

"it's okay. i get nervous around you, too." mingyu spun his thumbs in circles before minghao remarked, "no you don't! i'm the least menacing person you know, easy!"

"trust me, i get nervous too. i'm just good at hiding it," mingyu concluded just as hao opened the door, letting cool air flush into the foyer. "you can always come back. tonight. if you want," mingyu threw into the dying conversation.

"like a sleepover?" minghao poked mingyu's ribs with one finger.

"no, not 'like a sleepover,' a sleepover." gyu's cheeks grew pink when hao smiled and stepped off of his porch and slipped into the night without a response.

when mingyu finds the check for $80 on his kitchen counter addressed to minghao, he feels like death. they hadn't touched either of their violins in what, 5 lessons? a month and a half? mingyu had even taken minghao out for skate breaks during the lessons. 

☼

hao would curl up in a ball on the skateboard and mingyu would push him just a little. then he would watch him roll down the precipitous hill at an astonishing speed. a speed that would pick up quick and leave minghao screaming for mingyu all the way down until a wheel would get stuck in a patch of grass, and his screeches would quiet into soft panting. mingyu swore he would hear minghao's indie recommendations when he laughed and he loved it.

minghao would play toad and mingyu would play king boo in mario kart and mingyu would always win. something in minghao's eyes would tell him to let him win, just once, but also something in mingyu's stomach told him to just keep beating him senselessly. minghao's eyes would soften and the corners of his lips would fall in the slightest, his lips would part with a sigh. wordlessly, mingyu would pull minghao into a hug and push hao's face into mingyu's throat. he liked the feeling of minghao's eyelashes flutter on his jugular and the shallow, nervous exhales he knew hao was struggling to contain. "next game, you got it."

☼

mingyu's eyes bored holes into the check that laid neat and ready for xu minghao. 

minghao told his mom right when he got home that he was going to sleep over mingyu's house that night. he ran up his steps so excitedly that he fell forward, dragging his fingertips along the ridge of his steps. he threw open his closet and grabbed all that he could scavenge: socks, underwear, jeans, shirts, pens, papers, video games, flashlights, stickers, and his toothbrush. the thought of sleeping over mingyu's house made hao all but comfortable, but for some reason, he wanted it more than anything.  
he slapped his light switch off and shoved his toes hard into his sneakers, leaving his heels exposed as he shuffled his music. the steve lacy song that mingyu recommended him had made its way to hao's favorite-songs playlist. minghao's mom forced a kiss on her son's cheek as he stumbled around with his shoes barely secured. his violin case leaning up against the foyer table shook slightly with the slam of the front door. 

minghao ran the whole way to mingyu's house with a smile on his face and both of his fists locked around a clementine.

mingyu was puffing lazy clouds into his backyard, watching the blamelessly bright full moon slide between his exhales from his bedroom window. the rustling of the forest grew closer to him and his eyes drifted from the sky to the trees below, watching with intent as the sounds became louder. little minghao popped out from the brush and mingyu's dark heart jumped up into his throat. "i took the shortcut so i could get here even faster!!" hao bounced around in his moonlit yard, the grass reflecting the stars as minghao's hair flopped against his forehead in an excited manner.  
mingyu looked down on minghao without a word, waiting for him to say, 'yes, i'm here for my $80, give it here.' 

but it never happened.

the "minghao, i'm pretty high right now. you should go home." was a little harder for mingyu to actually say out loud then he imagined. it got a little choked up and minghao immediately rushed to mingyu's side, or, his side but 8 feet below. "what? it's okay!" he said, sliding a strap from his backpack off his shoulder and unzipping a pocket. mingyu could only watch minghao from above, frozen by his own emotions to actually do or say anything. "i'm fine with just hanging out with you. you can smoke, it's okay. it's just not my thing." the silence hurt minghao, each second pained him. mingyu had never been shut off like this before. "i brought stuff, like, i don't know, a bunch of stuff for you. and me. us." he pulled out a candy bar and attempted to throw it to mingyu's window, but it just hits the shutter, slightly to the left of him, and falls back into minghao's pitiful hands. "are you okay?" hao asked before mingyu pulled his hand to his mouth to take another hit. 

"minghao, do you remember when we went skateboarding, and played games, and when you showed me songs you liked?"

"of course."

"do you remember when you played pulaski at night for me?"

"yes."

"and you said you would try to teach me?"

"mhm,"

"and then even when i gave up, you still came to hangout with me?"

"yes."

"have you still been getting paid to just be with me?"

"oh, man, mingyu.."

"has my mom still been giving you checks to come over?"

"mingyu." 

"minghao, just tell me."

"yes. but i haven't put any of them in the bank." minghao spits out the last phrase, seeing mingyu's eyebrows furrow with so many questions. "i used 6 of the checks." mingyu drops his dab pen onto his bed and moves closer to his window, leaning out to listen to him with ease. "being your friend was all the pay i needed." minghao's hand slides into the pouch on his slightly over-sized lavender hoodie, revealing his fist filled with crumpled paper. "it didn't sit right with me. i didn't say anything sooner because i didn't think i was ready to tell you the truth. i wanted to drag out being with you for as long as i could." mingyu smiles when minghao looks down at his hands, his hair sprouts like black silk grass and his cheeks tint a peachy red, his innocence, his kindness, his lovableness so prevalent. "you all to myself and nobody else." hao looks back up at mingyu with big pupiled eyes and he can feel his mouth tugging upwards upon seeing mingyu's face. "i have something to say." minghao's nose and mouth contorts with anxiousness, his jaw slacking, but silence filled the void.

minghao tosses his backpack off his shoulder, popping the cap off of a pen and scribbling furiously on one of the many checks. mingyu calls down, asking what he is doing, and to "just come up here first!" but minghao is determined, folding the paper back and forth to make a clean rip. in a minute, maybe less, minghao takes a few steps back and guides the paper airplane to soar. it flies with intention, beautifully against the moon, mingyu thinks. then he catches it. for a moment, he brushes his fingertips along the folds of the airplane, carefully crafted by someone who cares. then he begins. mingyu delicately began to unfold the previously crumpled check, making frequent glances to minghao so far below. 

"i like you" mingyu reads aloud.  
"i like you too." minghao responds.

and with those simple words, mingyu is skidding down the side of his house, fingers grappled at the window frame with pained laughter and minghao shouting for him not to hurt himself. his socked feet hit the grass and his long body stumbles only for a few seconds before colliding with minghao's torso, straight into his outstretched arms. minghao was delicate as dust, but mingyu could comfortably squeeze him into oblivion. there was no room for air, no atoms, particles, molecules, nothing of the sort had any place between the bodies of kim mingyu and xu minghao.

gathering up assurance unbeknownst to either of the teenagers, the smaller one leaned up to peck his cheek.  
"kim mingyu, i am never letting you go." minghao promised before moving from his cheek to his mouth, making the taller one lean back to laugh. 

☼

on the night of the first kiss, deep in a cave of his own comforter, minghao's hands ignited, smashing his fingertips across his phones' keyboard at a speed faster than his own heartbeat. jun and joshua respond so quickly, minghao starts wondering if maybe they actually do see his daily messages about frogs, and just choose to not reply

**〚‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾〛**

**Ding!**

_the WORST capricorn_  
WE TF

**Ding!**

_apri ma jun_  
if you start cancelling on us suddenly to spend time being a Gaylord I will be seriously upset

**Ding!**

_the WORST capricorn_  
clear the searches lol """minghao Gay

**Ding!**

_apri ma jun_  
SERIOUSLY IM SO JEALPUS I MEAN IM HAPPY FOR U ND THAT SOUNDS ROMANTIC BUT LIKE …. that should be me,

**Ding!**

_the WORST capricorn_  
I'm not happy for you i hate u bitch  
but also I'm happy for u and I love u bitch

**Ding!**

_apri ma jun_  
minghao and mingyu: ha ha…## we Homosexualating

**〚____________________________________________________________________〛**

☼

minghao thinks that riding his bike to school is more rewarding than catching the bus.  
he flies around the curves of his neighborhood with the wind in his face and a smile spread across his mouth. he listens to music mingyu recommends, and slows down, almost completely stopping, but not. when he reaches the house with the familiar window, minghao squints so hard his eyes are almost completely swallowed up by his cheeks, but not. he watches mingyu dance around his room as he pulls on a hoodie and knocks the toothbrush around in his mouth in a hurry.  
minghao decides that riding his bike to school is more rewarding than catching the bus.

at the school talent show, mingyu gleams in the audience, even when jun totally screws up the whole song and starts laughing into the microphone. mingyu whistles with his fingers at the end of the performance and everyone covers their ears with their hands. jun, joshua, and minghao hold hands and bow; joshua's face so red with embarrassment he whispers to minghao that he thinks he might explode. the three win a plastic medal painted gold with an orange ribbon the same color as clementines. minghao couldn't be happier to win a participation medal. jun says they brought shame to pulaski at night and minghao tells him he's wrong, and their attempt was exactly what the song is all about.

☼

mingyu says 'i love you' at 11pm on a thursday, when minghao shows up at his window for the third time that week. tonight with 2 clementines, a rant about rainbows with no rain, and his insufferable insomnia. mingyu says it breathlessly after minghao kisses the oxygen out of his lungs and tells him that he likes that he tastes like citrus fruit.


End file.
